AT&T DSL Tech Desk Humor

[Rodneyck]

This is funny. I have been having trouble with my dsl all day today, running very slow. So, I call up AT&T DSL Tech Dept and the first thing I notice on the automated system is that people having trouble with Windows Vista have their own dept/key pad number, all others press another, lol.

I finally get someone and she asks me what OS system I have, Windows or Mac. I say neither, Linux. She has never heard of it. :-o So, then she asks is it like a Mac's OS. I didn't want to get into an operating system rundown, so I gave her the abridged version and said, well Unix is similar and based off of Linux, but different.

She then asks me to do a speed test and as such, I had to turn off my virus protection. I laughed and said, I don't have one. She asked out of amazement, "you don't have any virus protection?" Before she started in with a plug on how I should have one, I said, in Linux world, we don't have viruses, that's for people who run Windows. I told her that she really should try Linux, there are a number of "FREE" distributions to download, very stable and so much better than Windows or OSX. LOL.

It amazes me that people have never even heard of Linux, especially those working in a tech help dept. :confused:

[qalimas]

I once called my ISP to get my connection to my cable modem refreshed. They wouldn't do it because I couldn't open IE or Outlook, and "the internet won't work on anything but Windows".

Ever since, I have always said my OS was Windows XP, and I would do the Linux-equivilent of whatever they told me to do. For example, if I was told to repair my network connection by right clicking blah blah, I would just type the whole sudo /etc/init.d/networking restart and tell them I did. Always works for me.

[weatherman]

vodafone germany recently told me that they now offer linux support, thought that was pretty cool (haven't tested it though, so I don't know to which extend).

[yabbadabbadont]

This is funny. I have been having trouble with my dsl all day today, running very slow. So, I call up AT&T DSL Tech Dept and the first thing I notice on the automated system is that people having trouble with Windows Vista have their own dept/key pad number, all others press another, lol.

I finally get someone and she asks me what OS system I have, Windows or Mac. I say neither, Linux. She has never heard of it. :-o So, then she asks is it like a Mac's OS. I didn't want to get into an operating system rundown, so I gave her the abridged version and said, well Unix is similar and based off of Linux, but different.

She then asks me to do a speed test and as such, I had to turn off my virus protection. I laughed and said, I don't have one. She asked out of amazement, "you don't have any virus protection?" Before she started in with a plug on how I should have one, I said, in Linux world, we don't have viruses, that's for people who run Windows. I told her that she really should try Linux, there are a number of "FREE" distributions to download, very stable and so much better than Windows or OSX. LOL.

It amazes me that people have never even heard of Linux, especially those working in a tech help dept. :confused:

What is really funny, is that the AT&T dialup service used to be the only one, among the major players, who had a section in their support pages specifically on how to configure your DNS settings in Linux...

[Rodneyck]

Yeah, maybe she was a newbie, brought up from accounting to this position or something. It still amazes me how often I run into the "...do you use OSX or Windows?" scenerio.

Please, don't insult me that way. :lolflag:

[FuturePilot]

Sometimes I wonder how some of those people got that kind of job. But usually it's the entry level people that are like that. Their just reading instructions out of a book to you. If you get passed along to higher level people you might find someone that knows more. But funny story :lolflag:

When I still used Windows a lot, I was having problems with the connection. Called up the ISP and they asked what browser I was using. I told them Firefox, then they said close Firefox, open IE and clear out all the temp stuff. Yeah, like that's going to matter if I'm using Firefox. It has no connection to IE at all.

[Ubunted]

I work ISP support, and I've had exactly three customers in 15 months that use Linux and are shocked when I don't immediately dump their request and actually help them.

It was pretty easy mind you - the first one was just asking what a hostname was for and if he needs a specific one (whatever you want).

The second was really reluctant to tell me, figuring he'd get the brush off, and sounding rather surprised when I asked him what distro he was running (Slackware). He was even more surprised when I offered some tips.

The third just asked me if I knew anything about it, as she used SUSE at home.

[Rodneyck]

I work ISP support, and I've had exactly three customers in 15 months that use Linux and are shocked when I don't immediately dump their request and actually help them.

It was pretty easy mind you - the first one was just asking what a hostname was for and if he needs a specific one (whatever you want).

The second was really reluctant to tell me, figuring he'd get the brush off, and sounding rather surprised when I asked him what distro he was running (Slackware). He was even more surprised when I offered some tips.

The third just asked me if I knew anything about it, as she used SUSE at home.

Good for you Ubunted. We need more Linux knowlegable tech supporters out there. I don't want to be in the Linux closet afraid to come out, pretending to be something I am not, a Windows user. LOL.

[Gerard Barberi]

I've been on both ends of this scenario.

I recently called my ISP because the modem suddenly could no longer find a connection to the server. They have this automated system that you HAVE to got through in order to get to a live person. It's directed towards windows. I just kept telling the automated voice, "why yes, I did do that"

Other than being directed towards windows users, every solution the system presents was irrelevant to my problem. It's like they never expect their server to go down. It took me twenty minutes to finally get a live person, so I could tell them that. He initially tried to actually go through what the automated system had done. Like I hadn't already.

Then the question of my OS came up. He says "Oh, I see where the problem is". Yes, my monstrous linux OS has destroyed your puny modem. When I asked to speak to his boss, he gave me a "we're dispatching a tech to fix your modem"

I've never done that. I do the tech support. One of our students needed assistance getting his mic set up for an online class. He was reluctant to accept my help at first becasue he was on debian. But, he relaxed when I asked him if he was using Gnome. I even helped him access our online labs because they were streamed in windows media.

[EdThaSlayer]

Thats a funny story. She must have been amazed to meet a computer user that knows more than her. :P

[jpkotta]

Many tech support people only know as much as the troubleshooting flowchart tells them.

I've had pretty good experiences on average though. Qwest is pretty good, Charter is OK, Dell sucks. All have hold times that should qualify as torture.

[prizrak]

Tech support doesn't usually employ actual techs. Most people with a technical education work at least Tier II or internal company support.
It's not ISP related but I called Toshiba support for a repair (had one of those onsite repair warrantys) and told her that my speakers were screwed up (it was a laptop). So I immediately tell the tech "I have static in my speakers but the headphones are fine. So she told me to reinstall the driver. I told her that I was going to school for IT and can tell between a hardware problem and software and she proceeded to try and tell me that she knows better. Then she told me if it was a software problem I'd have to pay the tech myself to which I said fine. just get the dude out here. I'll give you one guess at who was right ;)

[teaker1s]

I'm stitching AOL because in my area all companies are BT wholesale resellers. 190gb+ month and they have no fair use policy-theres a shame:)